Successful people don’t achieve greatness by accident. They all work tirelessly to accomplish amazing feats in their lives. And they have the habits to back them up.
Some swear by meditation. Some love morning routines. And others use journals to help manifest their future.
But the number one thing all successful people do isn’t a habit but a principle of success.
The principle is echoed by some of the most successful people like Tony Robbins, Tom Bilyeu, and Jack Canfield.
And that principle is the first of 67 in the best-seller, The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be.
The principle is simple:
Take 100% responsibility for your life.
You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself.-- Jim Rohn
Why you have to take 100% responsibility
You are 100% responsible for the quality of your life. If you give responsibility away to others, you’ll never be able to make the changes you need.
If you don’t use this principle in your life then you are using the opposite one —you think anything that isn’t going right is not your fault.
- You aren’t rich because of the 2008 stock market collapse.
- You aren’t fit because it’s too hard to workout four or five times per week.
- You aren’t happy because your (insert significant other, kids, boss, etc) keep doing stuff you hate.
These excuses are just not true.
You aren’t rich because you overspend and don't save enough. You aren’t at your ideal weight because you don't prioritize exercise and healthy eating in your life. And you aren’t happy because you give your happiness away to other people in your life.
This is a losing formula. You are at the mercy of everyone else around you.
But it’s not entirely your fault.
As Jack Canfield said in the Success Principles book, “Most of us have been conditioned to blame something outside of ourselves for the parts of our life we don’t like. We blame our parent, our bosses, our friends, our coworker, our spouse, the weather, the economy, the government, our astrological chart, our lack of money — anyone or anything we can pin the blame on.”
The reason?
We don’t want to look at the biggest problem in our lives — ourselves.
Simply put, you have to take 100% responsibility for everything in your life. Not 80, 90 or even 99% — 100% responsibility.
Give up excuses
Excuses are easy. We all make them, all the time.
But if you want to create an amazing life you have to give up excuses. Because with excuses comes the victim mentality.
Once you become the victim, you are setting yourself up for failure.
Everyone goes through tough times, events, and even periods of their lives. The most successful people in the world usually had the hardest times.
Oprah Winfrey was sexually abused as a child. Tony Robbins was verbally, physically, and emotionally abused by his mother. Les Brown was given up for adoption with his twin brother after being born in an abandoned building and held back in school.
But they didn’t let their horrendous circumstances shape their life.
Instead, Oprah is a billionaire who has inspired millions around the world. Tony Robbins has used his pain to help end suffering for millions because he suffered a ton. Les Brown is a top motivational speaker and coach who has inspired people worldwide.
They all could have used these tough times to create a story for their failure. They could have used these horrendous events as fuel to become a victim their entire lives.
And no one would have judged them for it. Because as Tom Bilyeu said, “The thing with excuses, is that they’re true.”
Start asking questions
The next time something bad, depressing or unfortunate happens in your life you need to take 100% responsibility. Ask yourself the following questions:
- How did I create this event?
- What was I thinking in the past that got me here?
- What were my beliefs that set up this happening?
- How did I create this result?
- What do I need to do differently? How can I learn from this result?
Asking these kinds of questions creates empowering answers which leads to positive results. As Tony Robbins said, “The quality of your life determined by the quality of your questions.”
Instead of switching to a victim mentality, position yourself into a place of power. From this position, you can be on the offense by learning, adapting, and moving forward. You will have no more excuses holding you back from creating the life that you want.
Start Taking 100% Responsibility
“You can only control three things in your life — the thoughts you think, the images you visualize, and the actions you take (your behavior).”— Jack Canfield
Start taking control of your life by controlling your thoughts, visualizing success, and taking massive action to achieve your goals. If you want a different result, you simply have to respond differently.
You control your behavior. Your success is your personal responsibility.
Final thoughts
If you want to change your life you need to take responsibility for everything in it. Most people settle, blame others, and never put much pressure on themselves. Hence, they live an average, “normal” life.
But not you. You can take action and control your outcomes. Start creating your ideal future by becoming the person who doesn't make excuses.
You can only become the creator of your life once you take full responsibility for everything that happens in it.
